Hiroshima Astrophysical Science Center (HASC) of Hiroshima University
operates a 1.5-m diameter telescope named ``Kanata''
(Kanata means a far away in Japanese) which was built in 2006 May.
This telescope stands in Higashi-Hiroshima Observatory at 503-m
above sea-level, situated 7 km to the southeast of
Higashi-Hiroshima campus of the university.
The natural seeing size at the observatory is
~1.1-1.2'' in avarage (FWHM in R-band) .
The telescope was originally constructed as
the IR simulator
in Mitaka campus (Tokyo, Japan) of National Astronomical
Observatory of Japan (NAOJ) in 1994, and had been used for
instrumentation and many experiments
for 8.2-m Subaru telescope
(see also IR Astronomy Group in
Univ. of Tokyo).
At the movement from Mitaka to Hiroshima, the telescope underwent
a whole replacement of the control system.
This telescope can currently move with a speed of 5 degs/sec
in azimuth, which is five times faster than the previous control system.
This speed is remarkably high for one-meter size telescopes.
The enclosure of the telescope (a hemisphere-type dome) can
also rotate with the same speed.
The telescope has three foci, a Cassegrain and two Nasmyth ones
(every focus has the focal ratio of 12.2/12.3),
and it takes only 30 seconds to switch the focus.
Thus, Kanata telescope has an advantage for quickly-responding
observations of transient phenomena.